Most families have noticed that their wages aren’t keeping up with the rising prices. Now,  with our economy slowing down, we all have to cut down on our expenses to live simply. I’m not big on shopping, anyway, so buying less, shopping at second hand stores, and cooking simple meals makes me happy. Portland, Oregon, the city where I live, is filled with DIY’ers, sustainability experts, bicycle boulevards and recycling centers. Not too far south, in Eugene Oregon, the author of Food Not Lawns claims she can live on 4,000 dollars a year. Living in Portland, Oregon means that my neighbors will even go through my recycling box to make sure I’m doing it right, so living simply is right up my alley.

Slow Cooking is a perfect addition to the simple lifestyle most families have found themselves thrown into, recently. What makes a slow cooker so perfect for a tight budget? Just about any cut of beef, pork, or poultry will taste fantastic after it’s been simmering in a slow cooker all day. If you’re really low on cash, check out the clearance section of your grocer’s meat department and choose the best looking buy you can find. Throw that in your slow cooker and pour a can of spiced tomatoes on top. Turn your cooker on low to simmer the meat and potatoes all day. After you get home in the evening, cook up some quinoa or white rice in close to fifteen minutes. Microwave a package of vegetables. Season them with butter, salt, and pepper, spoon your slow-cooked meat and tomatoes over your rice or quinoa and you have a healthy, tasty meal that you can afford at the end of the month.

Another way slow cookers help you save money is that you can freeze leftovers and use them for dinner or lunch later that week or month. I freeze leftovers in pint-sized canning jars so that I can see what’s inside. But you can also buy labels to put on the jars. Just be sure to stick the labels on the jars when they are completely dry. You can’t put a label on a jar after you’ve frozen the food because condensation keeps the jars too moist.

Buy plastic lids for wide-mouthed jars in the baking section of your grocery store so that you can reuse jars and lids over and over again. Because I often give my soups and slow-cooked meals to my college-age daughter, I find myself having to buy more jars, but newspapers or on-line coupon sites often carry coupons for Kerr jars.

Slow cookers also help you waste less food. You can use the vegetables and cuts of meat that you have on hand. Slow cookers are very forgiving. It’s hard to burn anything in a slow cooker and with a little creativity you can vary your spices to make your meals taste like they come from all over the world. I love Laurel’s Kitchen which includes a list of tasty sauces you can make up and have on hand to add to your slow-cooked meat dishes. Don’t tell, though, because Laurel’s Kitchen is a vegetarian cookbook, but I love the sauces, so I use them on my meat dishes, too.